An 8-year-old girl jumped to safety from a third-floor window of a burning home in Washington Park after throwing a mattress to the ground.
Firefighters then entered the home by ladder late Wednesday in the 6100 block of South Wabash Avenue and rescued her younger brothers, ages 2 and 5, according to the ChicagoFire Department.
“You have to think about how innovative this child was… And we’re lucky we rescued the other children,” department spokesman Frank Velez said.
The three children were treated for smoke inhalation at Comer Children’s Hospital, where they were upgraded from serious to good condition, Velez said.
No adults were home at the time of the blaze, he said.
The mother of the children was located later in the morning, according to Chicago police spokeswoman Sally Bown. No charges were currently pending, she said.
A mattress lies on the ground Thursday morning outside an apartment building in the 6100 block of South Wabash Avenue after a unit caught fire overnight in Washington Park. Chicago Fire Department officials said a young child threw the mattress from a window and jumped to safety.Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
The fire broke out shortly before midnight Wednesday in the rear kitchen of an apartment at a housing development, but the cause of the fire remained under investigation, Velez said. He said there were no indications it was intentional.
The blaze was contained to one unit, Velez said. The 12-unit apartment complex was partially evacuated, and residents took shelter in a warming bus, he said. There were no other injuries or displacements, Velez said.
About 20 fire department vehicles and nearly 40 firefighters worked to extinguish the fire, he said.
The department initially provided different ages for the children.
Citing privacy laws, Illinois Department of Children and Family Services spokeswoman La’Kiaya White declined to say if the agency was investigating the incident.
On February 22, 1983, Harold Washington won the Democratic primary for mayor, with 36 percent of the vote. With nearly unanimous support from the Black community, Washington defeated a pair of Irish candidates—incumbent mayor Jane Byrne and future mayor Richard M. Daley—who split the white ethnic vote. After Washington was inaugurated, 29 white aldermen formed a bloc to oppose his administration, setting off the Council Wars which would define Chicago politics for the next four years.
Just imagine, though, if Chicago had used ranked-choice voting in 1983. Daley, the third place candidate, would have been eliminated after the first round. His supporters’ votes would then have been distributed to their second choice. Can you imagine Daley voters in Bridgeport and Beverly listing Harold Washington as the second choice on their ballots? Or listing him at all? The landslide majority of Daley’s support would have gone to Byrne, electing her to a second term. Thus, no Mayor Washington. No Council Wars. And a young Columbia University graduate might not have applied for a job as a community organizer in Jane Byrne’s Chicago. So no President Obama, either. The history of Chicago, the nation, and the world would be very different.
Nearly 40 years after Harold Washington’s election, there are campaigns to bring ranked-choice Voting to Chicago and Illinois—by the exact same sort of progressive reformers who would have voted for city’s first black mayor. Should they be careful what they wish for
Ranked-choice voting was a good-government pipe dream in 1983, but it has now been adopted by two states and 32 cities. Maine voters approved it in 2016. Two years later, a congressional candidate who finished second in the first round of balloting won the election with second- and third-place votes. Last November, Alaska became the second state to adopt the system
Now, there’s a campaign to bring it to Illinois. A bill sponsored by Rep. Jaime Andrade, D-Chicago, proposes to use RCV in general elections for the legislature and statewide constitutional officers. It’s currently under consideration by the House Ethics & Elections Committee. State Sens. Laura Murphy, D-Des Plaines, and Mike Simmons, D-Chicago, are sponsoring a similar bill in the Senate.
FairVote Illinois is an organization devoted exclusively to bringing RCV to the state. Executive director Andrew Szilva believes the system reduces political polarization, builds trust in government, and—despite the fact that it would have sunk Washington’s campaign—leads to the election of more minorities and women.
“What we’re finding is in places that use RCV, it ensures minority support,” Szilva said. “It changes how candidates appeal to voters. Rather than just appealing to their bases, they’re encouraged to appeal to the whole electorate. Places that use RCV have seen an increase of representation by minorities.”
That, however, may have as much to do with the communities using RCV as the system itself. Minneapolis, St. Paul, San Francisco, Portland, Santa Fe, Oakland, Berkeley and Cambridge all elect their city councils with ranked-choice voting. Cities open to RCV are also open to electing minority candidates. On the other hand, Southern states use runoff elections to prevent Black candidates from winning by splitting the white vote—as Washington did. (To be fair to RCV, Washington would not have won under the city’s current non-partisan runoff system, either.)
21st-century Chicago has more in common with the above-mentioned liberal cities than it does with the Chicago of 1983. In the last mayoral election, the two finalists were Black women. No one seemed uptight about it. Nonetheless, said Szilva, that election is a great argument for RCV, since the winners emerged from a large field with small shares of the vote: “There were 14 candidates, and the top two, Lori Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle, had about 17 and 16 percent of the vote. They got about a third of the vote combined. The idea that the two people that go on got that few votes feels incredibly wrong and broken.”
(Tribune columnist Eric Zorn, a proponent of RCV, conducted an exercise in which he projected which mayoral candidate would have won under the system. His conclusion: Lightfoot.)
47th Ward Ald. Matt Martin has been exploring RCV as a means of saving money and increasing voter participation by consolidating the city’s elections from two rounds to one. “I think we should be doing everything we can to ensure folks participate in the elections,” said Martin, who is still looking into whether the voting system can be changed by the City Council, or would require a citywide referendum.
The strongest argument for RCV is that it prevents “spoilers” from changing the outcome of an election. If Florida had used RCV in 2000, Al Gore would have won the state’s electoral votes as the second choice of Ralph Nader’s left-leaning voters. Here in Illinois, Paul Vallas would have defeated Rod Blagojevich in the 2002 Democratic primary for governor. In the first-past-the-post election, Blagojevich got 36 percent, Vallas 34 percent, and Roland Burris 25 percent. Since Vallas finished second to Burris in Chicago’s Black wards, it’s reasonable to assign him most Burris supporters’ second-place votes, thus sparing Illinois—and Blagojevich—a lot of trouble.
Getting an RCV bill through the Illinois legislature is going to be a heavy lift. Most politicians are reluctant to change a system that elected them. Maine and Alaska adopted RCV through popular referenda. Since the bill only applies to general elections, its impact would be limited. Most legislative seats are won in primaries, especially in Chicago. Nonetheless, FairVote Illinois sees it as the first step to a more just electoral system.
“We want to see ranked-choice voting at every level of voting,” Szilva said. “I fully anticipate that we’ll get ranked-choice voting in Illinois.”
The biggest free agency move for the Chicago Bears thus far came when they signed veteran quarterback Andy Dalton earlier this week.
It wasn’t exactly the splash fans were hoping for, especially at the quarterback position. But, this is where we’re at with the Bears and general manager Ryan Pace. ESPN’s Adam Schefter said on-air that Dalton was their top target, which should give fans reason to believe Pace has learned absolutely nothing.
Are the Bears really stuck in the same old story? Pace has whiffed on three quarterbacks, and this could end up being a fourth.
Now, after the Dalton signing, there are reports from Brad Biggs of The Chicago Tribune that the Bears could be looking to part ways with cornerback Kyle Fuller either via trade or cut. Fuller’s cap hit is $20 million for 2021. With Dalton signing a deal worth $10 million, it would be a shame to have to trade Fuller’s cap number to make more room after signing Dalton.
Not only could Fuller be on his way out, but defensive cornerstone and fan favorite Akiem Hicks may be as well.
The Chicago Bears’ stud defensive lineman might be on the NFL’s trade block.
Thursday morning on 670 The Score, Biggs was on and spoke about Hicks’ future. He specifically mentioned that he heard overnight about Hicks being on the trade block.
With this news, fans quickly jumped onto social media to do some more intel. One fan, in particular, found that Hicks had removed anything about him being a Chicago Bear on his Instagram profile. No longer does he say he’s part of the team — sometimes this is telling, sometimes it’s nothing.
We do not yet know if this will amount to anything, but with Hicks having injury concerns over the past couple of seasons, it does make a bit of sense that he could be traded.
Hicks is in the last year of his contract and the 31-year-old will count $12 million against the salary cap in 2021.
To add fuel to the fire, the Bears also signed former Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman Angelo Blackson. The 28-year-old had a career-high eight quarterback hits for the Cardinals in 2020 and comes to Chicago on a 2-year deal.
Blackson plays the same spot as Hicks, which leads many to believe that Biggs’ report of Hicks being on the trade block is true. Pretty soon, we could see a Bears defense down both Hicks and Fuller, all to accommodate a few minor signings to go along with Pace’s top target, Andy Dalton.
Pace and the Bears look more as if they are throwing in the towel on 2021 and getting ready for a rebuild than they do attempting to compete this season. If Hicks goes, and the Bears do not do everything they can to draft a first-round quarterback, you can count this season as a lost cause.
An 8-year-old girl jumped to safety from a third-floor window of a burning home in Washington Park after throwing a mattress to the ground.
Firefighters then entered the home by ladder late Wednesday in the 6100 block of South Wabash Avenue and rescued her younger brothers, ages 2 and 5, according to the ChicagoFire Department.
“You have to think about how innovative this child was… And we’re lucky we rescued the other children,” department spokesman Frank Velez said.
The three children were treated for smoke inhalation at Comer Children’s Hospital, where they were upgraded from serious to good condition, Velez said.
No adults were home at the time of the blaze, he said.
The mother of the children was located later in the morning, according to Chicago police spokeswoman Sally Bown. No charges were currently pending, she said.
A young child threw this mattress from a window and jumped to safety March 17, 2021, in the 6100 block of South Wabash Avenue.Chicago Fire Department
The fire broke out shortly before midnight Wednesday in the rear kitchen of an apartment at a housing development, but the cause of the fire remained under investigation, Velez said. He said there were no indications it was intentional.
The blaze was contained to one unit, Velez said. The 12-unit apartment complex was partially evacuated, and residents took shelter in a warming bus, he said. There were no other injuries or displacements, Velez said.
About 20 fire department vehicles and nearly 40 firefighters worked to extinguish the fire, he said.
The department initially provided different ages for the children.
A spokesman for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The Chicago Bulls blew a 23-point lead to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night, losing 106-99 in their first set of back-to-back games during the second half of the season.
What was it that led to the ChicagoBulls blowing this 23-point lead?
The Bulls were led by Zach LaVine on offense in this one. He put up 29 points on 12/21 shooting from the field. He also added six rebounds and six assists to the stat sheet. Thaddeus Young put up 16 points, eight rebounds, and five assists in his 1,000th career game.
The Bulls came out firing as they have done in the past two games with the new starting lineup including Tomas Satoransky and Young. The Bulls made five of their first six three-point shots in the first quarter. Young had six points in the first quarter and Sato assisted the first two buckets (ended with seven assists).
Their offense was performing wonderfully because they were taking their time on possessions. They worked with each other well in the first quart then LaVine took over his own offense in the second to give him 15 points at the halfway mark.
Bulls 58, Spurs 40 at half
LaVine 15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists Young 10 points, 6 rebounds Bulls have 15 assists
The Bulls’ ended the first half with an 18-point lead. They held the Spurs to just 40 points at the half which may be the lowest they have kept a team in a half this entire season. The defense was impeccable. They out-rebounded the Spurs 30-25, had more points in the paint, and forced them to shoot 31.3 percent from the field.
How did the Bulls lose this game? Falling asleep on offense, sloppy turnovers, and failing to break the Spurs’ full-court defense during the late portions of the game.
After the third quarter, the Spurs cut the lead to 13 points which was no need to hit the panic button yet. Midway through the third quarter and at the start of the fourth, however, the Spurs put the pressure on with a full-court press and half-court traps. The Spurs have the ninth-best defense in the NBA, allowing just 110.4 points per game.
This allowed them to go on a 17-0 run in the fourth. The Spurs scored 17 points on fast breaks and nine points off of turnovers. The Bulls scored just four points on fast break opportunities but capitalized for 17 points off of turnovers.
The Bulls got sloppy in the fourth quarter. After having six turnovers in the first half, they gave up 11 in the second half. Three straight turnovers near the end of the fourth put the final nail in the coffin for the Bulls’ loss. The running theme of failing to close games continues onward.
An absolutely awful fourth quarter by the Bulls here will cost them a game they should have won. And with Denver on deck on the road Friday, this is a horrible loss.
Their mental toughness failed them. I don’t usually like to dive into arguments based on ethos, but this one was relatively clear. Once the Bulls realized that they were giving up the lead and the Spurs put on their full-court defense, they panicked.
Take a look at the offense in the first half. The ball was moving, Satoransky and Young were making passes, and the Bulls were hitting open looks they created for each other. Once the pressure came on from the Spurs, it was LaVine’s offense the rest of the way.
The Bulls cannot rely on LaVine to bring them back into every game. It’s a team game. Relax. Understand that they gave up the lead and work to take it back. The Spurs are a great team that is now ranked seventh in the competitive Western Conference. The Bulls failed to figure out their defense and remain present in the game.
“Once they turned up the pressure and the heat, we had a very difficult time getting into offense. I think we did not move and cut well enough. Everybody has to contribute to helping in that area. We got caught watching him (Zach LaVine) and we become very easy to guard in that way,” said head coach Billy Donovan after the game.
Another important aspect comes from the shooting stats. The Bulls went 40/91 from the field and 11/33 from distance. The Spurs went 38/89 from the field and 8/31 from behind the arc. Where’s the difference? How did the Bulls lose then? Free throws.
The Spurs shot 30 free throws against the Bulls and made 22 of them. The Bulls shot nine. Optimistically, they made eight of the nine they took. With that, they need to drive to the rim. LaVine was the first to shoot free throws during the fourth quarter of the game.
The Bulls were hot from three to start the game as they went 5/6 from downtown. They made six of their next 27 attempts. See where I’m going? Recognizing that the three-point shot went cold and driving to the paint was miscalculated in this game. This won’t just get you to the free-throw line but will also create more open opportunities from distance.
Lesson learned. Leads are meant to be blown. Don’t panic. Work together and go back to what worked best in the first half which was passing/cutting and aggressive defense. The Bulls will hit the road to take on the Denver Nuggets on Friday night.
But if you don’t mind reading my yearly March Madness reflection, hey, let’s begin!
When I was a senior in high school, I had my wisdom teeth removed the opening week of March Madness. For that Thursday and Friday, I was home from school, watching basketball all day. It was a luxury I didn’t think I’d enjoy again until a future vasectomy.
But here we are in 2021. A time when we’re working from home, gambling feels pretty much legal, and we’re already staying inside for weeks on end. It’s the perfect recipe for a basketball binge.
And our country needs this tournament. Think about it, we haven’t had a March Madness game in 700+ days! I think that’s why we’ve been so mad at each other. The only things to bring us together were the Michael Jordan documentary, the Gamestop rally (the ultimate No. 16 seed vs. a No. 1), and the “I’m not a cat” video.
Setting the Stage
This year’s tournament brings two significant differences. First, limited fans. The tournament will be played in an Indianapolis bubble similar to last year’s NBA Playoffs.
I keep going back and forth on this, whether this means more or less upsets. Is it easier to shoot free throws in a quiet gym, blocking out your own anxious thoughts or trying to block out this guy?
Argument for more upsets – The top seeds won’t have home court advantage. When Kansas played in Kansas City* or Duke/North Carolina played in Raleigh, this gave Goliath an advantage.
*Kansas fans know the Sprint Center ends up being kind of a curse, but I digress
Argument for less upsets – But what would also happen, in the case of a Cinderella team, is 75% of the arena became die-hard fans of the underdog. A school we never heard of could hit 5 threes in a row, because 15,000 fans were cheering them on. Will that still happen in a glorified scrimmage environment?
The other difference: Traditional powers are having a down year. Kentucky and Duke aren’t even in the tournament. North Carolina is an 8 seed. Michigan State and UCLA play each other in the 11-seed play-in game.
If you’re thinking, man, this guy’s just rambling now, here’s a second chance exitramp, click here to go straight to the picks.
Love & Hate
Over the years, I’ve had a love/hate relationship with March Madness. As a die-hard Kansas Jayhawks fan, we’ve had it pretty good, but we’ve still had to grieve over Northern Iowa, VCU, Bucknell, Bradley, Wichita State. And plenty of Elite 8 exits.
’97 was devastating. 2003 fell short to Carmelo in the finals. 2020 we were heading in as the No. 1 overall seed and they canceled the whole tournament!
To keep the examples going – Even if you’re a Duke fan with 5 titles in the last 30 years, you still had to go through losing to a No. 15 (Lehigh) in 2012, a No. 14 (Mercer) in 2014, and a No. 11 (VCU) in 2007.
Kentucky had their 38-0 season end in an upset loss to Wisconsin. North Carolina had their heart literally ripped from their chest against Villanova.
Tom Izzo is the King of March Madness, but he hasn’t won a title in 20 years. No team, no matter the pedigree, is safe from the ides of March. That’s what makes this tournament so great. It’s the basketball equivalent of Game of Thrones.
And look at the person who wins the office pool by picking their favorite colors. The whole thing feels incredibly random and the college basketball experts (or wannabe experts like myself) make political pollsters look good.
But there’s also a sense of order, despite all the upsets. Over the last 20 years, 12 titles went to North Carolina, Duke, Kansas*, Kentucky, or Villanova.
Of the other eight titles – Connecticut won 3 and Florida 2 of those. That’s not a ton of variety.
*I gave Kansas the 2020 title since they ended the regular season #1 overall. Just seemed like the right thing to do…
The best team doesn’t always win in terms of who came in #1 overall or had the most NBA players. But the team who wins ends up looking like the absolute best team by the end of the tournament. And, in retrospect, they seem like such an obvious pick.
How does this happen? How does the champion and the Final Four teams stay somewhat hidden on our brackets? I think there’s something that happens along the way where a team elevates and becomes a different squad than they were 3 weeks ago. So it’s not really who enters as the best team but which one of the really good teams has the highest capacity for growth.
A lot of this growth happens during that one scary game where it looks like all hope is lost. Could happen at any point, a lot of times it’s the very first weekend. This creates the great March Madness paradox, because — as a fan — you don’t want to experience the stress of that nail biter game, but it’s also a necessary requirement if you want to be a Final Four team. It’s basketball’s Divine Comedy, to reach paradise requires the journey through hell.
Man, I love this tournament! Alright, what do you say we look at the bracket?
West Region
Gonzaga to the Sweet 16
Gonzaga is in the land of misfit toys. No. 3 Kansas and No. 4 Virginia, we still don’t know how many players will be eligible or 100% healthy due to COVID (and Gonzaga beat both of them earlier this season). No. 5 Creighton finished their season losing by 25 points to a .500 Georgetown team. No. 2 Iowa is a tough opponent, but Gonzaga beat them by 11 earlier this year. It’s a really good draw for the Zags.
I will say this, I’m convinced a No. 8 or No. 9 will beat a No. 1 seed this year. So I’ve been looking closely at each region. Each possible matchup. Here’s the case for why it could be Oklahoma or Missouri upsetting Gonzaga.
Oklahoma – At the end of February, the Sooners were the No. 7 team in the country. They’ve also got one of those “been there for 7 years, rocks a blonde mustache” guys in Brady Manek. Both are very good signs.
Missouri – Been in and out of the Top 25 all year. They’ve got No. 1 seed caliber wins with one over Illinois and one over Alabama. Plus solid wins against tournament teams like Oral Roberts, Oregon, Wichita State, Liberty, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Florida. As I’m typing this I’m like, “Wait, that’s secretly one of the best list of wins out there.”
Almost talked myself into it, but I think this ends up being Gonzaga’s early round scare, not a full upset. Missouri’s lost 6 of their last 9. Oklahoma – 5 of their last 6. I’m going Missouri over Oklahoma in the throwback Big 12 game, then taking the Zags over Mizzou.
Virginia somehow makes it to the Sweet 16
This group of four (Virginia, Ohio, Creighton, UC Santa Barbara) looks pretty chaotic. As mentioned earlier, Virginia and Creighton aren’t coming in strong.
On the Cinderella side, Ohio might have the best player in this group of four with point guard Jason Preston who averages close to a triple double (16, 7, and 7). They also took Illinois down to the wire (77-75) at Illinois. UCSB, courtesy of the ESPN Tournament Challenge scouting report, has “won 18 of their last 19 games. Tough defense. Great free throw shooting.”
But Creighton’s been hovering around the Top 15 all season long. Lot of upperclassmen. High scoring. Five players average double figures. Great assist-to-turnover ratio.
And Virginia won the regular season ACC title. Might’ve been on their way to win the ACC tournament pre-COVID. Always tough defense. Plus I think they’re gonna have the “Social Distance” boost, an extra layer of COVID defense where their opponent doesn’t want to get too close. Rebounding, diving for loose balls, taking it into the paint, look for their opponents to be a little timid in these areas the same way we’ll all react the first time we hear a sneeze back in the office.
I think this one looks like there will be upsets, but ends up being chalk. It’s like when you have a gas station hot dog and go home expecting the worse, but end up feeling surprisingly good. I’ve got Virginia and Creighton then Virginia over Creighton.
Kansas to the Sweet 16… a pick only a (crazy) fan could make
I pick the Jayhawks every year to win the whole tournament. It’s not the greatest strategy, but I can’t part with tradition. So, first, here’s why it’s not such a crazy idea.
The best way I can describe Kansas is our starting five has five guys who would be great No. 3 options on a championship team.
Marcus Garrett was National Defensive Player of the Year last season. David McCormack is a solid big man averaging 17 ppg over the last four games. Jalen Wilson is a versatile stretch-4, best rebounder on the team. Christian Braun hits threes, get to the basket, also rebounds well. And Ochai Agbaji is a projected 1st round NBA pick who looks like a spitting image of Jimmy Butler. He’s also fresh off his career best game scoring 26 points, hitting three clutch threes in a row. It was his Neo in the Matrix moment.
Winners of 8 of their last 9. Victories over Baylor, West Virginia, Texas Tech (2x), Creighton, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma (2x). All their losses came to ranked teams and only one team in the field (Oklahoma State) has more Top 25 wins than KU.
But, like Mr. Garrison in South Park’s Vaccine Special, Kansas arrives with a lot of baggage. Let’s begin:
Jalen Wilson won’t play in the opening weekend due to COVID
Still uncertain if David McCormack will play in Game 1
Nail biter early in the season to North Dakota State and almost lost final regular season game to UTEP. Both concerning for possible upset picks to Eastern Washington, Drake, or Wichita State
Not having the homecourt advantage with the traveling thousands of Jayhawks fans is also a major loss
Agbaji has a little bit of the Andrew Wiggins flaw; incredible amount of talent (as seen in his Neo moment), but doesn’t have the full Kobe gene. Hope is Agbaji will rise in the tournament like Brandon Rush did in 2008, but we’ve been waiting all season to see a sustained stretch of 20+ point games
The beatdowns to Texas and Tennessee showed what happens when Kansas is outmatched physically (although KU almost won the Texas rematch later in the season, this first game still haunts)
The team I’m most afraid of is USC. The Trojans have a 7-footer named Evan Mobley who blocks a ton of shots. This would be bad news for Garrett’s drives to the rim and would hurt McCormack too. And with Wilson out, that’s putting a lot of scoring pressure on Agbaji and Braun.
The problem with having five really good No. 3 guys, is not having a No. 1 guy. If Agbaji can play like he did against Oklahoma, Jayhawks have a great shot to make it to the Sweet 16, maybe the Elite Eight. If not, it could be an early exit.
For non-Kansas fans, I wouldn’t recommend following me down this championship road. There are safe exit ramps at USC, Iowa, and Gonzaga.
Iowa to the Sweet 16
Before the brackets were released, I thought the best three teams in the tournament were Gonzaga, Illinois, and Iowa. I don’t see the Hawkeyes having much trouble with Oregon, VCU, or Grand Canyon
Kansas to the Final Four
I’m going Kansas, but here’s why — when I take the KU goggles off — I think Gonzaga is a wise choice.
I actually see the Oklahoma/Missouri game being scarier for Gonzaga than their Sweet 16 opponent. Pretty safely moving the Bulldogs to the Elite 8.
Iowa’s got a perfect roster for the tournament. They’ve got a potential National Player of the Year candidate in Luke Garza who will turn the big men in this region into bbq chicken. He’s surrounded by a ton of three point shooters. Iowa scores 83+ ppg. It will be hard for anyone to keep up.
Except for Gonzaga. And that’s what happened when they played each other earlier in the season. It was strength on strength and Gonzaga won 99-88. Look for Jalen Suggs to climb higher and higher up the NBA Draft board this tournament. And keep in mind Gonzaga has 3 of the Top 10 players in America.
East Region
St. Bonaventure to the Sweet 16
This is a very dangerous move. But for Michigan fans, you’ll go from anger to Pure Michigan relief when you see just how little basketball science went into this pick.
Two reasons I’m taking the Bonnies. First, this photo.
Second, a guy by the name of Richard Rohr has had a very popular quarantine. I kept hearing people bring up his books (The Universal Christ, Falling Upward, Everything Belongs) and his podcast (Another Name for Everything), then I’d hear other podcasts referencing Richard Rohr too (especially comedian Pete Holmes’ podcast). I listened to him, read a few of his books, really enjoyed his work.
Here’s my logic – Richard Rohr is a Franciscan. St. Francis was like the Dean Smith of Catholic saints and St. Bonaventure was his Roy Williams protege. I say the Bonnies “rohr” into the Sweet 16 with the big upset win.
My Florida State trust fall to the Sweet 16
If you watch Florida State, they look like one of the most athletic, talented teams in the country. And at one point they were 14-3, might’ve been in the Top 10.
But it hasn’t seemed to click long-term, which is true of a lot of the Florida State teams these last five years. The way they finished the season was very Florida State. 3-3. Win. Loss. Win. Loss. Win. Loss. All signs point to another “Win. Loss” pattern with a Round of 32 exit.
But I didn’t like the UNCG upset pick. And I feel like Georgetown used all of its magic with their improbable Big East tournament run. Which leaves me with Colorado or Florida State. And my only real reason for picking Florida State here is going ACC over Pac 12.
Wow. I’m using Richard Rohr and an arbitrary ACC over Pac 12 measurement as my go-to logic. If you’re looking for Medium Rare picks, you’ve certainly come to the right place!
Favorite upset pick of the tournament: Abilene Christian to the Sweet 16!
Abilene Christian has all the “classic hits” when it comes to a Cinderella team.
They’ve got the pesky defense. No. 1 team in the country in forced turnovers, No. 2 in steals per game. They’ve got the tall pasty white guy. The long-haired guy. The stocky big man. The crazy fast small point guard (Damien Daniels – 5’7”). And the perfect names to hit a March Madness buzzer beater:
Reggie Miller for three!
Joe Pleasant at the buzzer!
And, to make the upset recipe even sweeter, they’ve got the chip-on-the-shoulder David and Goliath pairing with the University of Texas (Abilene, TX. 4,500 students vs. 51,000). Plus I’ve got the personal connection. I grew up in a Church of Christ congregation and Abilene Christian is one of the biggest Church of Christ schools (this comes into play whenever Pepperdine makes the tournament too). All of that combined together, I couldn’t resist this upset pick.
Now, to be fair, Texas has a ton of talent. Great guards and NBA-sized big men who should be a big problem on the glass. Texas at their best could win the whole tournament. They’re a very solid Final Four pick.
But here’s what I think will happen. Texas is ranked 239th in turnovers per game. So they’ll start by turning the ball over multiple times, Abilene will get an early lead, something like 12-4. And the defense won’t let up. Then frustrations will keep mounting and it’ll turn into this suffocating panic attack experience for Texas realizing they’re trapped in a bubble against this frustrating team that won’t let up. Abilene rides this momentum, Texas loses by 10-15 points.
And once you’ve committed to Abilene Christian over Texas, you gotta take ’em past BYU, Michigan State, or UCLA.
Although I can’t help but see a path emerging for Mr. March, Tom Izzo. Keep an eye on this…
Alabama to the Sweet 16
I feel pretty strong about this one. They have a nice draw with UCONN and Maryland as their 7/10.
And right as I’m feeling more and more confident in Alabama, I look closer at Iona and see a familiar March Madness name: Rick Pitino.
UCONN. Maryland. Rick Pitino. And I’m going with a football school. I’m feeling worse and worse about this pick…
Alabama to the Final Four
I can just feel the red ink forming in this region. I might only get 2 games right and I’m not even sure about that!
But joking aside, I still feel pretty confident about this Alabama team. Few bullet points:
They won the SEC (16-2) and the SEC tournament. Big 12 and Big 10 got all the headlines this year, but I think the NCAA tournament will show the SEC was underrated.
High scoring. Top 10 in rebounding. Up there in blocked shots too
I think Herbert Jones is a star in the making, could become a household name by the end of this tournament. Likely National Defensive Player of the Year. Obscure old school reference here, but he’s got a lot of Gerald Wallace to his game; the kind of guy who’ll score 15, grab 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks, and 2 steals
And if Nick Saban is allowed in the bubble, I think this pick becomes a lock.
Midwest Region
Illinois to the Sweet 16 (despite a horrible draw)
I think Illinois is the best team in the tournament.
Gonzaga’s last six games involved: St. Mary’s, San Diego, Santa Clara, Loyola Marymount, St. Mary’s, and BYU.
And they went 6-0! Including a 23-point beatdown of the Wolverines that cratered my confidence in Michigan so much that I picked St. Bonaventure.
Illinois reminds me a lot of last year’s Kansas Jayhawks. Ayo Dosunmu playing the role of a much taller (6’5”) Devon Dotson. Kofi Cockburn playing the role of the giant, man amongst boys, Udoka Azubuike. Trent Frazier is their Marcus Garrett defensive stopper.
Andre Curbelo is the streaky guard who will probably have multiple 20+ point games. And if Cockburn gets into foul trouble, or concerns with his free throw shooting late in a game, Giorgi Bezhanishvili is a more than capable backup. He’d start at center for most teams in the tournament.
Great coach. Brad Underwood who climbed the ranks from Stephen F. Austin to Oklahoma State to Illinois.
This is my pick to reach the final game. And if I didn’t have my superstitious Kansas stuff, I’d take the Illini all the way. They remind me a lot of previous champions like Villanova or that UCONN team back in the day with Ben Gordon and Emeka Okafor who never shy away from a challenge. They took pride in going into Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Michigan, winning on their home floors. They dug deep and won the overtime game in the Big 10 tournament.
Suffocating defense, holds opponents to 55.5 ppg. They’ve won 17 of their last 18, the only loss coming by 1 point. Top 5 in field goal percentage. Top 25 in assists to turnover.
And I think what’s most frightening — and where I think the Selection Committee really screwed up — Loyola is ranked No. 9 in the KenPom (think super computer) rankings. For perspective, No. 7 and No. 8 are Ohio State and Alabama. Loyola is a No. 2 seed hiding in a No. 8 jersey.
But what happens so often in the NCAA Tournament is you get excited about a second round game on the bracket that never happens. Don’t be surprised to see ACC Tournament Champs Georgia Tech spoil this Illinois showdown. That’s ultimately why I felt comfortable taking Illinois, the odds of Loyola beating Georgia Tech then beating arguably the best team in the tournament was a stretch I couldn’t make, especially after using all my risk-taking chips on St. Bonaventure and Abilene Christian. I also wonder how much of the Loyola hype comes down to sportswriters making up for missing the Loyola pick three years ago.
Doesn’t get any easier, I’m picking Oklahoma State to Sweet 16 but that’s a loaded part of the bracket
The Tennessee team who beat Kansas (80-61) looked like the best opponent — at least for that night — that I’ve seen all year. Exception, maybe, being Gonzaga.
But then they go out and lose to Ole Miss their very next game. Lost to Kentucky a few weeks later. Auburn a few games after that.
And I don’t love picking Rick Barnes in the tournament either…
Plus, Oklahoma State feels like such a better pick. They’ve got the projected No. 1 draft pick in the freakishly gifted 6’8” point guard Cade Cunningham. The Cowboys have the most Top 25 wins (9). They’ve won 8 of their last 10 including wins over Baylor, West Virginia (2x), Oklahoma (2x), Texas Tech and a close loss to Texas in the Big 12 championship game. They look like a really strong Sweet 16 pick and even a dark horse Final Four selection.
But they’re 324th in turnovers. And former freshmen stars in the Big 12 (Kevin Durant, Trae Young, Blake Griffin) never made it out of the first weekend.
Oklahoma State’s first round opponent, Liberty, has wins over Missouri and Purdue. The upset potential is higher with Oklahoma State than Tennessee.
But this type of thinking leads to problems in my brackets. When I pick the team “least least likely to lose” instead of the team “most likely to win” (I’d take OK State over Tennessee in a head-to-head matchup, but I’m more worried about an OK State first round loss than I am Tennessee) things tend to fall apart. So I’m going OK State. They’ve got better “Song of the Year” (more on that later) with their Big 12 Tournament victory over Baylor.
Come on, Bob Huggins, don’t let me down! West Virginia to the Sweet 16
San Diego State was expected to make a deep run in last year’s tournament and here they are with a lot of the same guys in 2021.
Syracuse, the idea of that dreaded 2-3 zone in a near empty gym feels like the recipe for another surprise run.
Morehead State beat a really good Belmont team (26-4, they should be in the tournament) by 15 in the OVC championship game.
And West Virginia spent most this season in the Top 15, was in the mix to win the Big 12 at one point.
West Virginia always burns me. I take them far and they lose 1st or 2nd round. Then I respond the next year by taking them out in the First Round, they go onto the Sweet 16 or Elite 8. I’m back in the “pick them too far” round of this always disappointing game.
But I always like West Virginia in the tournament because defense travels. Especially that second game when a team only has one day to prepare. I like the Mountaineers over Morehead State because when Morehead State played Kentucky and Ohio State early in the season they lost by 36 and 33 respectively.
Again, getting back into that shaky ground from earlier, but I’m more worried about a San Diego State upset loss to Syracuse than I am West Virginia falling to Morehead State. So, with that in mind, Bob Huggins, I’m trusting you here…
Houston to the Sweet 16
My Jayhawks bias extends to former Jayhawk Quentin Grimes (Houston, averages 18 ppg). The Cougars have been in the Top 10 all year. They’re 24-3. Lost by a total of 15 points in those three games. Feel pretty confident taking them to the Sweet 16.
Illinois to the Final Four
Loyola is Illinois’ hardest game, even more so than Tennessee or Oklahoma State. Taking the Illini there and then giving Bob Huggins one more victory (look for an early West Virginia exit in my bracket in 2022) before Illinois wins there.
South Region
Baylor to the Sweet 16. But this is a great spot for an upset
Remember the computer ranking site (KenPom) that has Loyola at No. 9? Well, they’ve got Wisconsin at No. 10. Plus the average age in the Badgers’ starting 5 is 22.6. That’s a full year older than the Chicago Bulls!
But Roy Williams is a remarkable 29-0 in the 29 years he’s been in the NCAA Tournament at Kansas and North Carolina. He’s been to 19 Sweet 16s, meaning his First Round record is 100% his Second Round record is 66%. That’s really hard to bet against.
We’ll get more into Baylor’s strengths as this post goes on, but I like them to comfortably beat either Wisconsin or North Carolina. I’ve needed all week just to pick the winner of Wisconsin vs. North Carolina (I’m going with Ol Roy at UNC. Wisconsin has lost 9 of their last 14 games. Their schedule was brutal in the Big 10, but that’s still a lot of losses), finding the confidence to then pick them over Baylor was too much of a stretch.
But I need to move on right now because I’m staring at those 29-0 and 19-10 stats and thinking about how much bigger North Carolina is than Baylor. I might actually, nope, gotta move on.
Purdue to the Sweet 16. Are they ever not in the Sweet 16?
I feel like I’ve seen this 20 times before, Purdue at the No. 4, Villanova at the No. 5.
Villanova’s No. 2 scorer (Collin Gillespie) went down a couple games ago. The Wildcats went 1-3 to finish the season. Winthrop is 23-1 and this is a classic 12 vs. 5 upset. I’ve got Winthrop over Nova.
With the Winthrop upset, I feel pretty confident in Purdue beating a No. 13 then a No. 12 en route to what seems like their annual trip to the Sweet 16. And Purdue always seems to have a 7’5” guy.
Texas Tech to the Sweet 16
Utah State’s really good. Arkansas really good.
But Texas Tech, and this seems like forever ago, played the most recent NCAA Tournament game (championship game against Virginia). Coach Beard is a rising star and one of the best preparation guys in college basketball. Give him a week to prepare for Utah State, he will dissect every possible scenario and have a minute by minute gameplan ready.
Plus I’m going with Colgate over Arkansas. Colgate has one of the most bizarre tournament resumes of all time. They’ve only played 14 games. They’ve only played 5 total teams! They’re 7-0 against Boston University. Who can beat a team 7 times? They haven’t lost since Jan. 3 (and that was only by 2 points). Their last 7 games have all been double digit victories.
And they’re named after a toothpaste. That’s all good enough for me. Colgate over Arkansas. Texas Tech over Colgate.
Ohio State to the Sweet 16
Ohio State is a couple of possessions against Illinois away from coming in 23-7, Big 10 tournament champions, might’ve been on the No. 1 line. And in both of those games against Illinois there were moments where I thought, “No one can beat this Illini team, they look incredible” yet Ohio State would really back from big deficits and almost pulled it off. That’s enough for me to move them past Oral Roberts and either Florida or Virginia Tech.
Baylor to the Final Four
Similar to Illinois, I really like the Bears’ path after that No. 8 / 9 game.
Baylor has the best guards in the tournament and the narrative, “Baylor was great pre-COVID layoff, but they haven’t been the same since,” isn’t really accurate. They lost to Kansas in their first game back, at Allen Fieldhouse on Senior Night, then beat West Virginia, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech, three Top 15 wins in seven days. Lost to Oklahoma State in the Big 12 tournament, but everyone’s lost to Oklahoma State this last month. I think the Cowboys even took down the Lakers in that stretch.
Final Four
My wife was one of the 37 people watching the Grammy’s this year. And I got to thinking, the analogy of “Artist of the Year,” “Album of the Year,” and “Song of the Year” works pretty well for the NCAA Tournament. Here’s what I mean:
Artist of the Year – The best overall team. Usually has the best album too, but not always the case. “Artist of the Year” is the combination of most impressive resume and the team that looks like the best squad. I think this goes to the college version of the old San Antonio Spurs teams: Gonzaga.
Album of the Year – The most impressive resume/body of work. You could go with Gonzaga again with their undefeated record and victories over Iowa, Virginia, Kansas, West Virginia (really bummed the Gonzaga/Baylor game was cancelled). But I’d actually go with Illinois here, especially the way they closed out the season. Illinois has more losses (six rather than 0) but more songs at the top of the charts. Gonzaga is 26-0, but Illinois played 20 Big Ten games, won 16 of them, then won the Big Ten tournament.
Song of the Year – This is where things get interesting. If you take the idea that the team who wins the tournament is the team with the highest capacity for growth, one way to look for this potential is by searching for the best wins of the year. Teams in this category proved they can be the best team in the country, at least for 40 minutes.
So you take Michigan, Illinois, Gonzaga, Baylor. Best four teams, so, to win “Song of the Year,” you need a victory over one of these No. 1 seeds. Those four teams have a combined 12 losses at the hands of 10 teams.
Minnesota
Illinois
Ohio State (2 nominees. Win over Michigan and win over Illinois)
Michigan State (2 nominees. Win over Michigan and win over Illinois)
Kansas
Oklahoma State
Missouri
Baylor
Rutgers
Maryland
A good rule of thumb — that I’m inventing this year — is to pick your National Champion as either the Artist of the Year (Gonzaga), Album of the Year (Gonzaga and Illinois), or one of the 10 teams from the list above. Make sense?
Here’s a look at my Final Four, three teams follow this criteria and one I think I’ll regret.
Alabama
Let’s start with the regret. If I had more guts, I’d stick to my Song of the Year theory and take either Maryland or Michigan State out of the East region. But I’m going with Alabama.
Their Song of the Year?
SEC Tournament comeback win against Tennessee. Impressive, but Tennessee is a No. 5 seed. Michigan State beat two No. 1s. Tom Izzo’s gonna do this again, isn’t he?
Baylor
Their Song of the Year is an impressive 13-point early season win over Illinois.
But I’m breaking the rules a little bit and going back to last season for an even more impressive victory. This is like when Kansas won the 2008 National Championship, their Song of the Year was a 2007 victory over the 2-time defending champion Florida Gators (the squad with Al Horford and Joakim Noah).
Baylor beat the 2020 National Champion Kansas Jayhawks, 67-55 in a packed Allen Fieldhouse. Butler, Mitchell, Teague, Vital, were all part of that starting 5. The team that night and the team who beat Illinois can win this tournament.
This Baylor team was 26-4 last season and 22-2 this season. Very confident about this Final Four pick, especially after the UNC/Wisconsin matchup.
Kansas
Again, if you don’t want to follow my KU bias, Gonzaga is a really safe pick. The Zags are Artist of the Year, possible Album of the Year, and their win over No. 2 seed Iowa is pretty close to a top tier Song of the Year.
But if you’re going down this road to Lawrence, the late season win over Baylor shows the best-team-in-the-country potential. The Jayhawks won 71-58. Out-rebounded Baylor, 48-28. Held Baylor to 34 percent shooting and 23 percent behind the arc. If that team comes to Indianapolis, they’re going to the Final Four.
But given the late COVID cases, and seeing the stretch from Jan. 12 to Feb. 6 where they lost 5 of 7 games, AND the way they were pummeled by Texas and Tennessee, I can’t say this enough: This Final Four pick is extremely risky. I took Kansas all the way, can’t end the tradition, but be careful here. If it doesn’t work out, I only take part of the blame.
Illinois
Which leads to my pick for Song of the Year. Illinois’ 76-53 stunning victory in Ann Arbor. Scoreboard shows 23 points, but it wasn’t even that close.
This was such an impressive win that I immediately launched Illinois to my National Champion favorites and felt comfortable dropping Michigan to St. Bonaventure (something I’m 95% sure I’ll regret).
Illinois has the Album of the Year. They’re 13-1 in their last 14 with wins over Iowa (2x), Wisconsin (2x), Michigan, Ohio State (2x). They’ve got the player of the year in Ayo Dosunmo. Second team All America with Kofi Cockburn.
And yet it could all end via Sister Jean and Loyola in the second round…
Man, I love this tournament.
Let the Madness begin!
If you made it all the way to the end of this article, first off, thank you. I think you’ll also enjoy another long article/e-book I wrote on the Kansas Jayhawks called “14.” Available on Long Overdue Books. I’llbe back for a norm Medium Rare mid-April.
I was born and raised in Midland, Michigan and moved here to Chicago a couple years ago after graduating from Hope College. I live in the city with my beautiful wife Ashley.
A little bit about me – I go to bed early, I enjoy greasy food and would wear sweatpants everyday if I were allowed to. I just signed up for a year-long Divvy membership, but could very well be the slowest bicyclist in Chicago.
I write the Medium Rare blog and will have a new post up every Monday.
Some things I simply cannot master, or fathom for that matter.
A JPG file made by Mike Winkelmann, the digital artist known as Beeple, was sold last Thursday by Christie’s in an online auction for $69.3 million. The price was a new high for an artwork that exists only digitally. (I’ll bet you another 69-million that you don’t know what JPG (or .jpeg) stands for? *)
The technology for NFTs has been around since the mid-2010s but hit the mainstream in late 2017 with CryptoKitties, a site that allowed people to buy and “breed” limited-edition, digital cats with cryptocurrency. I read about it in an on-line cat-alog (ba-rump).
As I said, somethings I simply do not “get.”
I can get close to describing the difference between the Keynesian Theory of Money and theMonetarist Theory created by economist Milton Friedman… encouraging consumption versus controlling the money supply (close enough).
But reading an AT&T mailer that compares its fiber 1000Mbps connection to the Xfinity GIF with uploads of 35 Mbps, duh, I have no idea what they are talking about.
Some hurdles simply are too high. The only code I recognize was invented by Samuel Morse. That’s the reality at a time in my life when seven minutes of Qi Jung in the morning is a rousing workout.
But I haven’t waved the white flag. There are drag-and-drop user interfaces I’ve learned to use, and Siri and I talk from time to time. What I have surrendered to is a learning curve that typed stencils for the mimeograph and nursed the furnace to life with a layer of pea coal and coke. I’m giving myself a break and accepting the reality.
When internet tech-speak turns my eyes into pinwheels I remind myself, the computer can’t sew a button on my shirt and iron it so I’ll look sharp when I’m the only one at the table who can carve the turkey. And I do know how to use Google to find the answer to 54 across and 55 down.
*”Joint Photographic Experts Group”, which is the name of the group who created the JPEG standard.
In the course of a long business career I held many titles familiar to the corporate world. But as I quickly learned the lofty nameplates no longer apply when your career comes to a close and you move from the corner office to a corner of the den. The challenge was to stay vital and active rather than idling on the sidelines. I had to create a new foundation upon which to build life’s purpose and joy.
I stopped adding up my stock portfolio as a measure of my net worth and developed a healthy self esteem independent of applause from others.
I am the co-author of The In-Sourcing Handbook: Where and How to Find the Happiness You Deserve, a practical guide and instruction manual offering hands-on exercises to help guide readers to experience the transformative shift from simply tolerating life to celebrating life. I also am the author of 73, a popular collection of short stories about America’s growing senior population running the gamut of emotions as they struggle to resist becoming irrelevant in a youth-oriented society.
After weeks of rumors surrounding the Chicago Bears and the possibility that they could’ve potentially landed star quarterback Russell Wilson in a trade with the Seattle Seahawks, the Bears front office made another disappointing move that’s left many wondering what could’ve been.
In what was already a weak class for free-agent quarterbacks, Chicago opted to give veteran quarterback Andy Dalton a one-year deal worth $10 million dollars with the possibility of making nearly $13 million dollars as a result of incentives.
The move comes just a year after Chicago traded a fourth-round pick and guaranteed $21 million dollars to Nick Foles, who despite his Super Bowl run with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017, has been a journeyman and disappointed in seven starts with the Bears last season.
The Chicago Bears should be considered losers of the NFL offseason.
Signing Dalton does nothing for the Bears at the quarterback position. This is simply a move that general manager Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy made because a move needed to be made at quarterback.
Dalton isn’t the answer in Chicago. If anything, overpaying for Dalton just adds to the frustration that was already building for the Bears. When the defense looks at Dalton, all they should see is an average starter who’s been to the playoffs a few times in his career but never actually done enough to get any team over the top.
In other words, signing Dalton means that the Bears will once again be relying on the defense to win games, especially in a league that is offensive-driven. Dalton doesn’t give much hope for a team that is likely approaching a rebuild as soon as the next offseason commences.
Time is running out for Pace and Nagy to figure out the Bears’ woes. In the NFL, all it takes is one good or bad move to put a team over the top or bring a team down. Chicago overpaid for an average quarterback in Foles the last offseason and it blew up quickly. This offseason, the franchise did the same.
Unless Dalton magically turns it all around and goes on one of the most unprecedented runs in NFL history don’t expect much from the Bears in 2021, especially if Chicago doesn’t draft a rookie quarterback to groom under Dalton.
Rightfully so, ChicagoBears fans are not excited about this acquisition. Dalton has not had a winning record since 2015, and he hasn’t been to a Pro-Bowl since 2016.
Last season, he completed 64 percent of his passes for 2,170 yards (197 yards per game), 14 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. Meanwhile, he led the Dak Prescott-less Cowboys to a 4-5 record and failed to lead them to a playoff berth in the weakest division in the NFL, the NFC East.
After the trade talks between the Bears and the Seattle Seahawks for Russell Wilson fell through, the Bears ineffectively panicked — seeing that other free agents like Jameis Winston and Ryan Fitzpatrick signed deals — and took Dalton for $7 million more than he made last year.
I will be starting a #BeNiceToAndy campaign. It’s not Andy Dalton’s fault Ryan Pace is incompetent. So let’s do it.
Andy’s hair will look pretty sweet in Bears colors #BeNiceToAndy
This move by the Bears, while awful, despicable, and a typical motif for the Bears should be celebrated as the beginning of the end for head coach Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace. Plus, the saved capital and personnel will be vital for the inevitable rebuild.
Here are three reasons why the Dalton signing left fans with some positives.
Otto Kuhns (4) threw a pair of touchdowns for EIU last weekend as the first true freshman since Jimmy Garoppolo to start for the Panthers. (Photo by EIUPanthers.com)
The start to Otto Kuhns’ college career highlighted his arm strength … and perhaps his nerves.
“The first play, the adrenaline was coursing through his veins and he overshot a wide-open receiver,” Eastern Illinois head coach Adam Cushing said with a smile.
Despite missing redshirt freshman wide receiver Matt Judd on that first play Saturday at Tennessee State, Kuhns provided plenty of highlights.
Kuhns completed 19 of 30 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns for the Panthers (0-3) as the first true freshman to start at quarterback at Eastern since Jimmy Garoppolo in 2010.
Cushing said Tuesday that Kuhns will start again for EIU when the Panthers host Tennessee Tech in an Ohio Valley Conference game Sunday.
“He settled down and had a ton of poise in the pocket,” Cushing said. “That was the first thing that stood out to me. He would stand in and make the throws, or he escaped well and extended plays with his feet.”
Kuhns ran for three first downs in the game but was also sacked five times for 35 yards in losses in Tennessee State’s 21-20 victory.
He did not turn the ball over and threw two touchdowns to superback Jay Vallie in the second quarter to give EIU a 17-3 halftime lead. But two third-quarter sacks ended EIU drives and allowed Tennessee State to rally.
Otto Kuhns
“For a freshman starting his first game, I was truly impressed with his poise and how he handles himself,” Cushing said. “He’d tell you there are about three or four throws he’d love to have back. He missed a couple of big plays out there.
“We know he’s not going to be perfect, but we’re impressed with what he did,” Cushing said. “We’re looking forward to him continuing to grow.”
Tennessee Tech head coach Dewayne Alexander said preparing for a young quarterback with limited experience has its difficulties.
“That is a challenge,” said Alexander, who praised Kuhns for moving EIU’s offense through the air and on the ground. “He certainly has a lot of ability. Guys with that dynamic of running the football are the hardest to defend. They can keep plays alive.”
With young quarterbacks, there are often ups and downs.
“It’s like all freshmen quarterbacks,” Alexander said. “He’s going to make some exciting plays and he’s going to make some freshman plays. But the key is he’s going to make some plays.”
Alexander was a TTU assistant when the team played against former EIU – and future NFL – quarterbacks Tony Romo and Jimmy Garoppolo. He joked that he hopes Kuhns doesn’t develop like the other two did in Charleston.
“But he’s certainly got potential to do that,” Alexander said.
Blog co-authors Barry Bottino and Dan Verdun bring years of experience covering collegiate athletics. Barry has covered college athletes for more than two decades in his “On Campus” column, which is published weekly by Shaw Media. Dan has written four books about the state’s football programs–“NIU Huskies Football” (released in 2013), “EIU Panthers Football (2014), “ISU Redbirds” (2016) and “SIU Salukis Football” (2017).
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